Klas Ingesson the Lumberjack and the 10 Strangest Second Jobs of Footballers

Not everybody who plays the beautiful game gets signed as a teenager before retiring—with a large bank balance—to a life of punditry or leisure.

Former Gillingham player and manager Andy Hessenthaler, for example, turned professional a little later in life and was a bathroom fitter in his youth and early career—I know this because he fitted my bathroom!

Meanwhile, former Sweden and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Klas Ingesson pursued his "dream" of being a lumberjack after retirement.

Here are 10 of the strangest pre- and post-playing career occupations from the world of football.

Papiss Cisse the Ambulance Driver

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Most folks don't have a driver's license at 15, but Pappis Cisse was driving an ambulance in his native Senegal at that age.

The Newcastle striker would drive an emergency services vehicle from his hometown to another town with better hospital facilities, and admits the three-to-four hour journey was often a harrowing experience.

Through his own charity he has raised enough to buy a new ambulance, X-ray machine and medical equipment for his hometown hospital.

Steve Savidan the Trash Collector

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Steve Savidan spent years as a journeyman striker working his way through France's second and third tiers. At age 30, and against all odds, he was finally given his break into the French national team by Raymond Domenech in a 2008 match with Uruguay.

Four years prior to the call-up, Savidan was making ends meet while playing working as a "boueur." In English, that's a bin man. In American, that's a trash collector.

Gordon Davies the Pest Control Expert

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Welsh striker Gordon Davies played for Fulham, Chelsea and Manchester City during the '70s and '80s. He was nicknamed "Ivor the Engine" because of his tremendous work rate on the field, but apparently he worked pretty hard off the field too.

Davies was a qualified teacher and continued to work as a PE instructor in his early career. When he retired, he became and pest control officer and now runs his own rodent-killing company in Northamptonshire.

He also helps with corporate hospitality at Fulham on match days. Presumably, his help stretches beyond Craven Cottage's mouse problem.

Tomas Brolin the Vacuum Cleaner Salesman

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Tomas Brolin built his reputation on five silverware-laden years with Parma, but he destroyed said reputation in England with a disastrous spell at Leeds that earned him number two spot on The Times' "50 Worst footballers (to grace the Premier League)" list.

The semi-talented Swede retired at age 29, and moved back to his homeland to partake in a number of business ventures.

He opened an Italian restaurant that was fined on several occasions for serving alcohol to underage patrons (source in Swedish), and backed a number of online ventures. He sold shoes and—most amusingly—a revolutionary type of attachment for vacuum cleaners.